A prosecutor working for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans is the individual responsible for hundreds of online posts under the pseudonym "Henry L. Mencken1951," officials said on Thursday. The poster was identified as Sal Perricone, an attorney who has handled such high-profile cases as the Canal Street brothel and Operation Wrinkled Robe.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten made the announcement at a media briefing at his office. It came three days after the owner of a Westbank landfill filed a petition in civil court seeking to depose Perricone and fellow prosecutor James Mann in a precursor to a likely defamation lawsuit.

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Letten said he was speaking to "address and put to rest" the matter regarding "Mencken."

In his opening remark, Letten said that Perricone on Tuesday "acknowledged and revealed for the first time to us that he has, in fact, been the sole user of the Nola.com identifier Henry L. Mencken1951."

Letten stressed that Perricone acted alone and that no other members of his office were aware of his actions.

Perricone has been recused from any cases on which he has commented, and the matter has been referred to the Department of Justice in Washington for further review.

"I did that personally," Letten said, noting that he "did not want to interfere" with the pending investigation. He added that it was his hope that the developments would not affect any current or past cases handled by his office. The WDSU I-Team also confirmed through a New Orleans Police Department representative that Perricone taught a class on the court system to NOPD supervisors two weeks ago. Perricone is also very involved in the ongoing federal consent decree negotiations between the NOPD and DOJ.

As the WDSU I-Team reported Tuesday morning, Heebe cites work by a forensic linguist and former FBI profiler suggesting that a member of the U.S. Attorney's Office is responsible for hundreds of online posts under the pseudonym "Henry L. Mencken1951."

The posts appeared on the website Nola.com over an extended period. They address a wide range of topics, but many of the posts relate to Heebe, his family or River Birch.

Heebe considers the posts defamatory and characterizes them as an unauthorized campaign against him.

Heebe has not been charged with any crime. He is asking the court for a subpoena that would allow his attorneys to depose Perricone and fellow federal prosecutor Mann.

The petition suggested that "Mencken" is actually Perricone, but in the filing, Heebe's attorney conceded that he could not bring action against any individual without certainty of that person's identity.

Perricone did not attend Thursday's news conference. On Wednesday, when approached by I-Team reporter Travers Mackel, Perricone said, "I'll have to refer you to Jim Letten" regarding comment on the petition and its claims.

Letten said he recognized the importance of maintaining the public trust and pledged to continue efforts to crack down on crime in the community.

"We're going to continue in our unrelenting efforts to fight corruption, violent crime, the drug trade that fuels that violent crime, civil rights abuse and any of those individuals who threaten our citizens, threaten our quality of life and threaten our safety," he said.